White Lion's Roar
by Aemeneol Aetherisch
Summary: C.E. 71. ZAFT and the Earth Alliance are at war. The Orb Union uses stolen technology to create their own mobile suits. Among them are six units that are part of the Caprificus Project, a project that aims to shape a select few to protect Orb's future. Ziek Hona Strive takes up arms with his comrades, but who and what will be left of them after the last shot is fired?
1. PHASE 01 Stray Pilots

_The year is Comsic Era 71. Two superpowers collide in a full-scale conflict. On one side, the Earth Alliance and its O.M.N.I. Enforcers, comprised of 'Naturals', normal people of Earth who have taken up arms against the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty, or ZAFT, and its Coordinators, genetically modified human beings who have superior skills, physical or otherwise, to their 'Natural' counterparts. The conflict had escalated when the Earth Alliance launched a Nuclear Missile attack on the agricultural colony of ZAFT, Junius 7, on February 14, C.E. 70, later known as the Bloody Valentine incident, wherein 243,721 people, mostly civilians, lost their lives. Amidst all this war however, are some places which know peace among Naturals and Coordinators, a jewel amidst all the conflict. Orb is one such nation, one of those who choose to take a neutral stance in the war._

…

_"Orb will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack them, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations." – Motto of the Orb Union_

…

_The Orb Union, a small island nation to the east of New Guinea along the equatorial line, is a nation neutral to either side. The nation allows both Naturals and Coordinators alike to live in its territory. Along with its economic and political stability, as well as its neutral stance on the war, people have thus dubbed it the 'Land of Peace'. Even so, its peace cannot be kept without the reassurance of its ability to retaliate against those who would want to disturb it. It has a substantial military, capable of defending itself against both the Earth Alliance and the ZAFT military for a short amount of time. As of yet, neither military has taken any move to disturb Orb and its territory. However, with war comes uncertainty, and with everything escalating, the only way to hold on to one's ideals if they have the power to keep it._

_**January 28, C.E. 71**_

A large building loomed before the four of them. Well, not only the four of them, there were probably about forty or more possible candidates here, all to be evaluated for a chance to test out a new weapon, one that was said for the defense of Orb's neutrality. Whatever it was, it seemed to be causing a lot of commotion. Everyone knew what this building was.

One of the islands off the coast of Orb proper was the Ongoro islands, home to Morgenroete Inc., one of the top military contractors in the world, developing numerous weapons technologies that aided in Orb's military. Being here meant that it was a weapon they would be testing, and many had to wonder if it was related to what happened to Orb's resource satellite and civilian colony, Heliopolis, a few days ago. The recruits at the academy weren't all that riled up to start with, some of them had family living at the colony. They were almost just a month into the New Year, and already something had happened because of the war. But they had duties to attend to. The conflict was escalating, and if the destruction of Heliopolis told them anything, it was that it might come to them.

"C'mon, we're going to get left behind," a girl with curly, shoulder-length blonde hair urged her companions. While she was a little anxious because of the Heliopolis incident, she distracted herself by looking at the 'competition' they were going to have. All of the candidates that were chosen were the top recruits at the Academy, their ages ranging from fourteen to twenty years old. Most of them, their group included, were test-pilots of atmospheric fighters, basically upgraded jet-fighters, during their time at the Academy. With the skills each and every one of them had, they had to wonder what qualifications would get them accepted. Her light blue eyes glimmered with anticipation. "Mayura, tell Juri to hurry up or we'll be left behind!"

Mayura huffed, pushing the bangs of her short, brown hair aside from her face. It was a hot day today, and she was starting to sweat from the heat. It wasn't helping that her hair was getting into her eyes. "We're right behind you Asagi, geez," she shot Juri a glance, her violet eyes full of 'hurry the hell up, she's going to make a commotion.'

A girl with glasses quietly edged along the line as it moved towards the building. She tucked some of her neck-length dark-blue hair behind her left ear and adjusted her pink-framed glasses, trying to squint against the glare her glasses gave off. Juri looked back at their last companion, a boy their age of sixteen, just struggling along the throng of people they were a part of.

"You okay Ziek?" Juri asked, just loud enough so that he would look at her, breaking his blank stare towards nowhere in particular. His brown eyes locked on to her hazel ones. As he scratched the back of his head, he gave a slight smile.

"Just thinking of where I have to go later, I promised Mica I'd be at the entrance but…" He trailed off. She tugged at his unruly, dark-brown hair, earning her a slight growl of annoyance from him. "Ow, that hurts!"

"Just don't get lost here okay? We'll find…" Juri hesitated slightly, before continuing her statement, her words a sprinkled with slight distaste. "… that she-devil before you know it."

"You honestly don't like her that much huh…? And what the hell am I a kid? I won't get lost, I _promise_."

The way he said it so sarcastically made her laugh a little. Mayura looked back at the two of them and addressed Juri, who was tugging Ziek along by the arm.

"I bet this is all because of what happened to Heliopolis," she said within earshot. Ziek shifted uneasily. A friend of theirs was at the colony when the incident happened.

"Cagalli was there wasn't she? I hope she's alright."

"How cute, you're worried about her."

He narrowed his eyes at Mayura. "The entire colony was destroyed Mayura. I'm worried as hell."

Her eyes softened a little. She let it slip her mind Ziek naturally worried a lot. "I'm sure she's fine. It'd take the entire ZAFT and Earth Alliance military to take her out."

Ziek's features turned into a slight smile, which relieved her. She proceeded to look around. She saw some familiar faces from the Academy, including one guy she was quite interested in. She looked back to her companions and Juri was still clinging to Ziek's arm. "Could you stop flirting with the guy and concentrate? Asagi's way ahead of us already."

Juri adjusted her glasses again. It kept on shifting position as they bumped into other people. "I am not _flirting,_Mayura, he just might get lost. I bet you're a little high-strung because Ricard's somewhere around here," she teased. Mayura looked exasperated and just turned the other way.

When they finally got inside, they were greeted by a vast interior, with stairs and elevators careening off towards different areas, employees and what looked like mechanics all moving about. As they continued on, they had a view of rooms that ranged from offices to design labs with holograms and charts scattered around. As they got further back into the facility, they saw what looked like hangars of experimental weapons technology being fired and tested, though the sound proof glass kept things quiet. Ziek had seen some of these in their classes at the Academy. He saw turrets mounting anti-air weapons systems, missile launchers and various VTOL atmospheric fighter aircraft, most notably the newly developed FX-550 Skygrasper, which he, Asagi and the others had regularly tested since November of the year before, while it was still in its prototype stages. It was a capable fighter, based on its specs, but it seemed to also be a support aircraft for something else.

Ziek's mind wandered a bit, remembering how he had gotten to become a test-pilot in the first place. Ever since he was younger he had always been fascinated by the idea of piloting atmospheric fighters or mobile-armors, just like what the Earth Alliance used, mainly because his parents were part of the Earth Alliance military, even though they lived in a neutral country belonging to the Equatorial Union. He went to arcades a lot, always practicing with the flight simulators of various aircraft and mobile-armors, having the fourth or fifth highest score usually. In this aspect, score meant kills, accuracy, efficiency, and the like. He was a little disappointed in himself, thinking he had to be more like his parents.

He dedicated his spare time to studying machinery, mostly about their Operating Systems and how they worked, as well as how to pilot them. By the time he was thirteen he bought himself his own flight simulator to use, and he practiced on that thing for all it was worth. When his parents became a part of the elite Moebius Zero squadron, it gave him even more incentive to be like them. Becoming an ace pilot would have been nice, but not really an ace of the Alliance. Their whole racism thing didn't really entice him. ZAFT didn't appeal to him either. He found them pompous. Not saying that the people of either side were all the same, but still.

A few weeks after his parents had told him to move to Orb after the 'Bloody Valentine' incident, where he lived with a few relatives, he enrolled in a proper military academy. His relatives didn't mind, finding it admirable he wanted to follow in his parents' footsteps, but he never actually got a chance to tell them, as they were out fighting the war.

Ziek's reminiscing was thrown a little off track as they were ushered into different testing rooms. It made sense, since the male and female candidates would probably have to go through a physical exam. He lined up outside the testing room for what seemed like ages. Several more minutes after the one in front of him entered the room, it was Ziek's turn. He noticed the words Medical Examination on the clipboard the man had in his hand. So his hunch was right, go figure.

"Name?" the personnel asked him.

"Ziek Reahmiz Cleus Hona Strive. I put Ziek Hona Strive for short in the sheet they gave me before, so if you have any trouble finding it…"

"No no, here it is. Go on then, the doctor will be there to issue the examination."

Ziek entered the room. It was pure white and smelled of anesthetic and other clinic-y substances he couldn't exactly describe. He sat down on the chair in front of the man who was probably the medical examiner. He was a middle-aged man that had short, orange hair that was neatly trimmed, a slight tan, and glasses that hung low along the bridge of his nose. Then he recognized him, it was Mica's father, Thomas Amaran. The second the doctor recognized Ziek, he gave the boy a warm smile.

"Looks like you qualified for the program. Mica'll be rearing to check what you're made of."

"Oh gee, I can't wait…"

Ziek was a little apprehensive on the fact Mica being excited about something with him involved. She, along with Asagi and the others were people he had befriended during his time at the Academy, although anything involving Mica usually led to her challenging him every chance she could get. It ranged from simple card games and equations to arcade games and sparring. He won at least once, which was fine by him because it punched a hole in her perfectionist streak and made her pout like a little girl, because a Coordinator like her just lost to a 'Natural' like him. Ever since that one incident, she's been on his case. The voice of Mica's father brought him back from his 'pleasant' memories.

"Now this is just a medical exam, background check and the like. It's more of a formality for you, since I know you aren't a bad kid, but hey what can you do right?" he said. He readjusted his glasses and reached for the clipboard in front of him. "Let's see, born 'naturally' on June 18, 55, no exposure to drugs or the like, at least I _hope_, 170 centimeters tall as of your last checkup, mother was also born naturally, and your father… well this is something new to me. You never talked about your parents much did you?"

Ziek blinked. It wasn't that he wasn't proud of his parents. He loved and respected them to death… no pun intended. It never really came up in a conversation though. "I'm sorry. I guess I never mentioned it before."

"No no, it's alright, I guess it's just news to me that your father was a Coordinator like myself and my daughter."

It was another thing he took pride in about his parents, besides the fact that they were both of officers and ace pilots of the Earth Alliance. His mother was a 'Natural', but his father was a Coordinator. One would think with the known hostilities among the two 'genetic races' that he would have been denied entry to the military, but with his parents had enlisted within the Eurasian Federation, which unlike the Atlantic Federation were less strict about Coordinators within their ranks. Although this was true, there were still some people who were kept in the dark about his father being a Coordinator unless his father stated it outright, such as when his father told his squad-mates in the Moebius Zero squadron, who were comprised of both Eurasian and Atlantic Federation soldiers. At one point Ziek asked why his father didn't enroll with the ZAFT military. Ziek always remembered his father's wild brown hair, which he inherited, and slight stubble whenever he remembered how his father replied.

'_I don't share their views on Coordinators being superior. Not that the Alliance is any different for hating Coordinators for their skills. On one side is pride, on the other side is envy. Neither side is justified. If there was any reason I joined the Alliance, it was that I wanted, in my own way, to somehow create understanding between one another. My squad could care less if I was a Coordinator or not. They trust me and I trust them. Now if only we could do that for the rest of humanity, things would be hell of a lot more peaceful around here. A guy can dream, I guess.'_

Ziek knew that his father's squad trusted him wholeheartedly. He'd seen them the year his parents were promoted to the Moebius Zero squadron, and they all visited Ziek when he turned fourteen, during one of their leave days. His father revealed to them that he was a Coordinator that evening. At first some of them were a little rattled, but after a little philosophical debate about their views on the whole Coordinator deal, the others decided they didn't care. They poked at the fact that Ziek wasn't born a Coordinator though. There was a complication while he was still in his mother's womb, and his father's Coordinator genes weren't passed down to him. Long story short, he was born a 'Natural'. But his father didn't care; in fact, he took it as a sign

…

'_Your mother's a feisty one that, probably why you turned out the way you did.' His father said with a smirk on his face while he was cutting up some ingredients. His parents were still preparing dinner, and his mother was obviously a little annoyed at how carefree his father's conversation in front of their guests was. She pushed the bangs of her jet-black hair aside as she clocked in the timer on the stove, while his father got the grill ready. Ziek looked at his father over the tabletop counter._

'_Don't you ever wish I was born a Coordinator?'_

_He stopped chopping a few slices of meat to look at his son. 'Ha! Of course not!' he laughed while patting Ziek on the head._

'_But then I would probably be able to be with you guys piloting mobile armors by now!'_

_Ziek's father gave his son a solemn look. 'You're still too young for that Ziek, even if you_ were _a Coordinator. But you know, Coordinators aren't really that much different. We can just absorb information faster, get a hold of things a lot more easily. But even non-Coordinators can do what we can.'_

'_You make it sound easy pops, come to think of it, now I get why you don't get heart attacks running marathons with us… well, the others anyway,' one of his squad-mates, a young man with short black hair called out over his drink._

'_Can it Lindgren, maybe you're one of the people who can't because you're so damn lazy, and don't call me pops! I'm trying to give an emotional heart-to-heart here!' Ziek's father replied. As he finished saying it though, they all laughed, as did Ziek's father. He turned back to his son. 'Anyway, whether you're a Coordinator or not, it's just a label. There's this one kid in our squad, over there, the blonde who can't hold down his alcohol. His name's Mu. Best Zero pilot we have. That bastard could beat me in a dogfight any day.'_

'_Kiel! Watch your language when you talk to our son!' Ziek's mother reprimanded while she was setting the table._

_His father let out a booming laugh. 'Sorry Atla, but you babying him won't do the kid any favors you know.'_

'_But it's true you know, Mu can beat your old man's ass any day,' another one of his father's squad members said. He was a man with ashen hair and a matching beard. His name kind of matched his description, ironically._

'_Yeah yeah he gets it and who you callin' old man, Winters? You're old enough to retire that's what you are!' the entire group laughed, along with Ziek and his mother, who just finished setting the table. As his father finished placing the food, along with Ziek's cake, the other members of the squad sat with his family._

_Ziek received scaled replicas of Earth Alliance warships and mobile armors. When he slept, he put them right above his bed, dreaming of the day when he would be able to pilot something, whether it was a mobile armor, or if it were possible, a mobile suit, even if they were said to be too complicated for 'Naturals'. A guy can dream, right?_

…

His parents died the year after on June 2nd, C.E. 70, during what was now known as the 'Battle of Endymion'. He was informed and received their medals of valor a few weeks later, on his birthday nonetheless.

_Awarded to Ezekiel Reahmiz Strive and Atlasia Cleuz Hona Strive for their services in the Earth Alliance._

The details were never fully explained to him. Now here he was, reminiscing his past as the last part of the medical exam was finished. Thomas said his daughter was waiting for Ziek somewhere down the hall, so off he went.

"Now was it go left… then a right or was it head straight then turn…?"

While he wondered if he was actually going to get lost, he started to space out. All that he noticed around him were the clear, glass windows that showed the hangars just beyond the walls. He saw a Skygrasper unit again. He recited its armaments in his head.

Four machine guns, two machine cannons, one beam cannon positioned on a turret right above the cockpit and two missile bays…

As he looked at more of the equipment being tested, he noticed a giant shape covered by a huge insulating sheet. He had only glimpsed it before it was moved somewhere. He barely made out the shape of a head… part of the sheet drooped down and formed what seemed like a V. The shoulder armor barely poking out, while the last piece he could remember were both of its feet that poked out at the base. It was a mobile suit, something like the ones ZAFT had developed. It definitely didn't look like a GINN though. Someone was about to bump into him, and usually you'd expect someone who spaced out to not notice. But he noticed things, small things, like he felt ripples of movement around him. He stepped deftly to the side as a streak of red hair grazed his cheek. His assailant however didn't even slip or falter. This time he couldn't react fast enough, the hunter had found its target and just followed up with a fluid motion to wrap her arms around his neck… and began strangling the life out of him. That was one to nothing for today.

"You took your sweet time," the girl whispered calmly, with a hint of icy contempt. Such a charmer she was.

"Mica, you're a wonderful person and all, but alas I cannot accept you right now," he tried to say as playfully as he could muster. It was hard given his life was being slowly and methodically forced out of him. Immediately after she let go, her face, gracefully framed with her short, poofy, orange hair, became a little distorted with annoyance and a tinge of embarrassment that you could just barely make out. Her bright blue eyes could pierce your soul.

"Don't flatter yourself 'Natural',"

Ziek tried to have a feel if any of the bones in his neck broke due to her vice-grip. All seemed to be well. He saw her in full now, clad in what looked like a pilot suit. It managed to outline her curves quite well. He mentally punched himself. "Good to see you too."

Mica Amaran, the prodigal yet prodigious Coordinator Academy recruit of Orb. She was his age, but she was a lot more advanced than him or the other three girls. With all that skill she had a little bit of an attitude problem, mostly her pseudo-superiority complex. She seemed like how the Earth Alliance labeled Coordinators, stereotypically conceited and arrogant of their own abilities. But she had nothing but respect for the ones she saw fit. Many test-pilots, like Ziek and the other recruits, were non-Coordinators. The ones who stood out, particularly the older members of the Orb military, had her unbridled reverence, wanting to know their tricks of the trade. Anyone else however, Coordinator or not… well, she wasn't that much of a people person outside learning how to shoot down a target a few kilometers off. How she found Ziek to be a person worthy of her interest after that one little incident was beyond him. Mica composed herself, breathing in deeply and addressing Ziek again.

"So you're going to be a test pilot too, correct?"

"I'm thinking 'yes', but then I have no idea what we'll be testing… was it the mobile suit that just got transported?" He asked as calmly as possible. The idea of piloting a mobile suit… it was the feeling he had when he began using his flight simulator, utterly ecstatic. He saw Mica looking at him indifferently before she spoke again.

"Pretty sharp aren't you? You're correct. I can't tell you much else, so just come along with me to the testing area. Ms. Erica will be in charge of everything that follows."

Ziek merely nodded and started to go after Mica, who had started to walk at a quick pace towards the hangar he'd just peered into. They reached an elevator and they both stepped inside. Mica pushed some buttons on the panel and a secret compartment popped open, and she pressed on the button that looked like it would take them below the facility. Top secret things are about to happen, he thought. Elevator music played as they journeyed downwards, and it was getting all but awkward. He tried to start a conversation.

"So," Ziek started. "How are you today?"

"Fine."

Such a ray of sunshine, Ziek thought. "Were you here for the examination too or…?"

"I was already accepted. I came to find you, since you were being slow."

"Uh, okay…"

A few more grueling moments passed and the elevator let out that god-sent ding that told them they'd arrived. Mica went ahead and Ziek had to move forward to acknowledge where they had ended up. They were inside a giant hangar, a wide space in the middle as large as a few football fields in terms of length and width, and on one end of the facility were the covered mobile suits he'd seen before. Before he could gawk at it anymore Mica ushered him towards what looked like a command center. Given they were underground, this place was pretty amazing. He was afraid the entire roof would fall on them though. As they entered the facility they weaved their way through more corridors until Ziek heard a commotion getting louder. The candidates he'd seen at the entrance to Morgenroete were right in front of a long corridor with large, clear, glass windows on one side, displaying the hangar before them. In front of all the candidates was a woman with slightly curly, light-brown hair. She began to address the eager young people before her.

"I'm sure you're all wondering what you're all here for. I won't beat around the bush. I am Erica Simmons, senior engineer here at Morgenroete. You are all here to be evaluated on your abilities to become a part of what we call the 'Astray Project'," as if on cue, the sheets covering the six lined-up mobile suits were removed. What lay underneath made the entire hallway fall to a hushed silence. In red, black, and white colors, a giant looked back at them. It must've been around eighteen meters tall, with green 'eyes', a peculiar looking mouth-plate, and a red 'V' on its forehead, the shape that Ziek had noticed before. It was a mobile suit, similar but at the same time unlike the GINN units of ZAFT. Erica began to speak again, breaking the silence that had ensued.

"As you all know, Orb's resource satellite, Heliopolis, was destroyed just a few days ago in an attack by ZAFT against Earth Alliance forces. Although we stand neutral in this war, the fact remains that Earth Alliance forces were found stationed at Heliopolis. This may lead to accusations that Orb has allied itself with the Earth Alliance, forcing us to engage ZAFT if they choose to attack. At present, our military does not have the strength to withstand a full-scale assault. However, with your cooperation, this project aims to defend the ideals that Orb had always stood for."

What was this feeling? You could call it being eager, but the old axiom 'like a kid in a candy store' fit best for Ziek. Someone slap me, I must be dreaming. No wait, don't slap me, if this is a dream I don't want to wake up, he thought. His heart raced. The anticipation was all but showing, he was already twitching with excitement. Mobile-armors and fighters were one thing, but to pilot a piece of art like a mobile suit was beyond his wildest imaginings. Mica saw how riled up he was and she lightly flicked him on the back of his head to calm him down. Erica had been continuing her speech when his attention came crashing back.

"Each one of you will perform a test run. Your performance will be evaluated and you will all be grouped according to aptitude. Results will be given tomorrow. Good luck to you all."

As she finished, personnel began corralling them towards another area. It felt like déjà vu. Another throng of lively young aspirants began to mobilize itself. Ziek bumped into someone, but before he could apologize, he saw that it was Asagi, who had her hands on his shoulders and began shaking him like a ragdoll.

"Can you believe this? A mobile suit! Oh my god oh my god oh my god…!"

"I-I know, you may w-want to c-calm down now, p-please?"

Mica suddenly yanked Asagi's arms off of Ziek. It looked like she overdid it a little.

"Ow! Hey that hurt!" Asagi cried out. Mica however ignored her.

"I'll be going with Ms. Erica. Good luck."

Mica spun on her heel and left. Asagi was scowling when Juri and Mayura finally appeared beside her.

"The she-devil?" Juri asked, shooting a glance over at Mica as she walked away.

"Nah, it's alright. I guess I _was_roughing this guy up a little too much," Asagi gestured to Ziek. He had a sheepish smile on his face.

"No no, I'm good. Sorry about your arm," Ziek took Asagi's arm in his hand. It had a little graze on it. "Must've been a tight grip when she yanked it away."

Slightly flustered, Asagi snatched her hand back. "Little-Ms.-Coordinator prodigy can wait. Right now we've something bigger on our hands."

Mayura smirked to the other three. "Those spots are ours, we've totally got this."

Ziek took a look back at the mobile suits that waited for them. He hoped the OS was a little like a mobile armor or an atmospheric fighter. Realistically, that was rather impossible. It must've been a lot more complicated than that. Even so, he was going to figure out some way to make that thing move. If ever ZAFT or the Alliance attacked, he would be able among those who would lay their lives down to protect other people. He thought back at how his father might've handled a situation like this. He could only think of three words. As plain as day, he could imagine his father looking back at him through the glass windows, with a hearty grin on his face and a thumbs-up directed at him, something he imagined his father had said when he first piloted the Skygrasper.

"Just wing it."

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

The waiting area was air-conditioned, basically a square room large enough for forty or so people, with benches placed all around. A large mechanical screen was mounted on one side, displaying figures of the unit, called the M1 Astray, as well as the cockpit and its controls. They'd been given a quick run-through on how to start the unit up, basic control commands, what to and what not to touch, as the other command consoles aboard the machine were still experimental and were not to be tampered with. Ziek thought about 'winging it' a while back. Now he was pretty sure winging would probably set the thing to self-destruct.

After the discussion he and the girls found a little corner of the room. The candidates were being called in groups of three, and while the first few people went out, the room was a little cluttered with people trying to find their own space. The corner they were in managed to have a clear view of the large flat-screen monitor that was set up though. It was on another side of the room broadcasting a newsfeed as candidates were continually called on. Most of the reports were on the present state of the world, things like economy, about the Earth Alliance, propaganda about Anti-Coordinator sentiments. A stray commercial about random items kept things from getting mundane popped up here and there too. They had probably been there for almost two hours, and around ten or so candidates were left. Ziek wasn't sure, he wasn't really paying much attention to anything other than the news and the small talk he was having with the girls.

He paid more attention to the television when news that reviewed the Heliopolis incident started. Some of the satellites around the colony had caught pictures of the incident. The reporter did the regular 'the following images and videos may be too graphic for some audiences'. Obviously all of them still looked. This was war, a war that they may one day get caught up in. It was a war that took lives. Even if it was reported that most of the evacuation vessels made it out, there was still uncertainty. Not everyone can be saved. It was a grim reality that Ziek understood. They saw images of the mobile suits, the GINN units of ZAFT, along with a red mobile suit, speeding towards the colony. The cameras failed just as Heliopolis collapsed, and they had barely glimpsed the Earth Alliance battleship, a giant, white, 'two-legged' behemoth. It was reported that the central axial shaft was damaged and eventually gave out as the firefight between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces raged on. It was all too surreal.

Ziek's nerves rattled him. It gave him goose bumps just watching the footage. He had to wonder what it felt like actually being in the thick of it all. He couldn't imagine it. What would he have done? Would he have done anything? He shook those kinds of thoughts out of his head. It's either kill, or be killed, he mused. But then nothing in the Academy, not even the simulations, would probably ever prepare him for a real battle, emotionally anyway. He'd lived a pretty sheltered life, and if he became a mobile suit pilot, there would be no turning back. Any sort of 'death' that he'd seen was in front of a simulator. He wondered how his parents felt when they first pulled the trigger on another machine, knowing full well that there was a person piloting it. Maybe they didn't care, because they were fighting for a cause. But he was part of a neutral nation's militia. Out there, they may as well end up fighting Coordinators and 'Naturals' alike, with no particular 'cause' other than to defend Orb's neutrality. It was stupid, he thought. He wanted to believe that maybe if both 'races' just understood each other like they did here in Orb, the war would end.

Asagi leaned back onto Ziek. The Heliopolis incident came as a shock to her too, but it didn't affect her as much as it did some people. Her family lived in Orb, so they were safe. Mayura and Juri were in a similar situation, but none of them could let the injustice of ZAFT pass. Whether it was on the new mobile suits or supporting the chosen pilots on Skygrasper units, they would fight for their homeland. Ziek noticed Asagi looking a little dazed.

"You okay?"

She shifted a little, then leaned forward and started to stretch her arms. They were starting to get numb from all the waiting. "Yeah, just some pins and needles. That and my butt is starting feel numb," she stood up and stretched her legs too. Mayura was looking at someone in the distance, and Asagi noticed. She looked towards Mayura's general line of sight, and she saw what had been occupying her. During the broadcast a few more recruits had been called, and by now there were only five of them left. Mayura's gaze was directed at the only other person in the room besides their group, Ricard Andras, one of the older recruits of the Academy. In terms of skill, he was probably one of the best 'Natural' pilots Orb had. At 19 he was tall, towering over even Ziek by at least half a foot. His dark green hair was slicked back slightly, which let just a few bangs fall over the right side of his face. His violet eyes were focused on the newsfeed. Mayura unconsciously sighed. Ziek had to stifle a laugh.

"You look like you want to eat him or something. You're drooling."

Mayura recomposed herself and shot Ziek a venomous look. She was obviously embarrassed. "Sh-shut up, I wasn't doing anything wrong!" she spat. He smirked, which sent a warning signal up Mayura's spine. He got up and stretched as well, before turning around. Now she was getting really suspicious. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Nothing, just gonna say hi to Ricard over there."

"What? No! You can't!" she tried to muffle her shout. It came out like a squeal, and Ricard seemed to notice. Her face heated up in an instant. "Oh do what you want," she spat then went to a corner to pout. Ziek dismissed it and went over to Ricard. He was one of those people who just befriended everyone around him. He'd given Ziek pointers about a lot of things during their Academy days, and was generally there to help anyone. For that Ziek treated him like an older brother. He smiled as Ziek approached.

"So you made it in too."

Ziek sat down beside him, resting his forearms on his legs. "Guess so. You look occupied. Did you have family in Heliopolis?"

Ricard's smile faltered a little, but it remained there. He merely shook his head.

"Ah, sorry, is it a sensitive subject?" Ziek asked, noticing Ricard's reaction.

"Nah, it's alright," just as he was about to say anything else, the intercom inside the room blared out Ricard's name, along with Mayura and Juri's. "I guess that'd be me," He started to walk towards the exit and gave Ziek a wave without looking back. Ziek stood up himself and went back to his group in the corner as the two who were called stood up as well. As he wished Juri good luck, he turned to Mayura and saw her staring daggers into him. He couldn't help but laugh though.

"I didn't say anything to him. C'mon, focus, mobile suit, test-piloting, chance of a lifetime, remember?" he urged. Mayura headed towards the exit, but she turned around and managed a little grin. She ran after Juri, and Ziek went back to Asagi and sat down behind her. She leaned back on him again. She was tracing little circles on the floor with her finger when she spoke.

"She's a mess with that kind of thing."

"Mobile suits?"

After that wonderfully intelligent statement, Asagi proceeded to smack Ziek upside the head.

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

The command center was busy taking care of the adjustments each time a recruit was finished with the test. Rows of computers and terminals were lined up, all of them emitting data and logistics at breakneck speeds that only the ones who were manning them could understand. Erica herself was busy reviewing the results that she'd collected from most of the recruits that had already been tested. Based on what she had seen and what was recorded, it was turning out better than expected, mainly due to the impromptu improvements Mica had done to the Operating System.

With the help of Erica's close friend, who liked to be called 'The Professor', an eccentric woman who was a member of the Junk Guild, they had acquired the cockpit of a functional GINN, ZAFT's mainstay mobile suit. From there, with Mica's help, they reverse engineered the O.S. from the GINN and tried to use that as basis for a support O.S. to be used for the M1 Astrays, which ran on a system that was based on the Earth Alliance's G – Project but was far too incomplete. Based on the results gathered from usage of the infant O.S., the recruits would be divided into Corps, collecting the more skillful candidates into one Corps, who will probably receive combat training at once if all goes well. Obviously, since not all of them will be able to pilot a mobile suit efficiently at this time, older and more experienced pilots, who as they were conducting the tests were already being briefed to use the Astrays, will be the ones manning the other machines. The skills of the recruits she had sent for varied greatly, only reinforcing the previous inevitability. Some were able to make it walk, albeit at a sluggish pace; others could only get the arms to move or fidget the legs slightly, before the entire unit fell over. In those cases, Mica, who stood by inside the testing area, had to stand the suit upright again.

Because of the results, it was a given the O.S. was far from perfect. Mica had tried to calibrate it to suit a Natural's aptitude, but it was a little taxing on her part. As a Coordinator she didn't know how much she had to modify it to actually suit a 'Natural'. Erica, being a Coordinator herself, tried to give the O.S. a few tweaks before the test itself had started, but with the Heliopolis incident, and still no word from The Professor about the Astray prototypes, they had to hurry and make modifications as they went. The next few candidates entered, namely Ricard Andras, Mayura Labatt, and Juri Wu Nien. The boy seemed like a promising young individual. The other two girls were one of the top candidates as well, and she had high hopes for both of them. Erica stood up and went to the observation deck where a giant glass window separated the testing area from the command center. The three black, red and white 17.53 meter tall mobile suits stood there with the retractable tether that was attached to the cockpit, awaiting their pilots. The three recruits mounted the tethers and started to ascend. Once they all managed to get inside the cockpit, Erica spoke through her earpiece, activating their mobile-suits' com-links.

"Think you three can get it going without our help?"

Mayura's voice chimed in her earpiece. "You kidding? We got this."

At once, the three units' green 'eyes' glowed with light.

"Let's see what the three of you can do then. Mica, you're on standby."

Mica raised her hand as she went to a safe corner and spoke through her own earpiece. "Roger."

Erica turned back to the recruits. "Let's see, Mayura is it? You're up first."

"Roger!" she replied excitedly. Before she did anything, she took a quick glance at the testing area. It was reinforced with metal walls all around, save for the long glass window that showed the observation deck from the command center. She recalled the illustrations and took both motion-controllers and pushed them all the way. Her Astray started running, a little erratically, but it managed quite a distance… before it tripped. Mayura cussed under her breath and began to pull back on the controls, all the while adjusting a few switches. She didn't manage to stop the fall, but her suit's left arm and leg stopped it from stumbling over completely, and it ended up in a crouch. Mayura's Astray got up slowly. She was supposed to do a sort of stance but decided against it and turned to face the red circles. At once a loud and rapid clicking sound, like an empty machine-gun, filled the air. Mayura looked expectantly at her targeting system. However it registered she had missed all of them. "Ah dammit."

To say the least, it seems these last few recruits that she'd called in were giving excellent results. "Not bad Mayura, but that was a little reckless. Please be careful with the unit next time."

"… Yes ma'am," she replied dejectedly.

"That'll be all then. Juri, you're next."

"Y-yes ma'am," In the cockpit, Juri was having a little trouble discerning a few things. She adjusted her glasses. Focus Juri, she thought to herself. She barely remembered the illustration, but she had a general feel of it. She recited the drills she had to perform in her head. She flipped a few switches, and held the two motion-controllers on either side. She slowly eased them forward, and her Astray began to walk. It was a little sluggish, and she almost toppled over, but she managed to get back in control after she made some adjustments. The mobile-suit's arms rose and it assumed a fighting stance, the one that Mayura had skipped. It looked a little awkward, but it was better than what the previous recruits had attempted. Her unit eased back into a standing position. Erica spoke into her earpiece again."

"What about the Igellstellungs?" she asked. Juri stopped and looked at the targets Mayura had attempted to fire at.

"Um, sorry, but I don't remember how to activate them," she replied sheepishly.

"Just click first red switch on the right-hand control-grip, in front of the motion controls. Just aim and fire."

"A-alright." Her machine turned a little to face the targets, lining up her reticule on one of them. Juri looked at her right hand and took it off the motion-controller and set it on the cylindrical grip in front of it, similar to a bike pedal. She pushed the button that rested underneath her index finger, and that same, empty clicking sound started up. Like Mayura however, she missed all of them. "Oops…"

"That's alright, you've done great," Erica turned to face the last Astray standing ready. "Anytime, Ricard."

"Roger," Ricard's Astray moved its arms. It assumed the same fighting stance that Juri had attempted, although his was more precise, if only by a little. After, his unit started walking at a normal pace, until it broke out into a steady run. Ricard tried to ease the unit back into a walking motion, but it started to stagger. He decided to use the momentum, managing to land one leg forward, before turning quickly to face the red targets. _Click-click-click._ Two out of five targets. Not bad, he thought. As his Astray went back to standby, he heard Erica's voice over his com-link.

"That was quite impressive Ricard."

He removed the buckles that strapped him in and pushed a button to respond. "Thank you ma'am."

Erica took a moment and gathered the data from one of the main terminals while the recruits were easing their machines back into their starting position. Mayura opened communications with Juri.

"Not bad, four-eyes," the brunette teased.

"At least I didn't trip over myself."

"You were just _walking_, I mean come on-"

Before she finished the sentence, Ricard had turned on his own com-link to join their conversation. Mayura shrunk back a bit, slightly at a loss for words. It was just his image through the on-board cameras but she couldn't help it. He gave off one of his, in Mayura's thoughts, prize-winning smiles.

"For younger recruits you two did pretty well," he told them. Mayura just gave an appreciative, albeit awkward smile, while Juri thanked him properly. A few moments of small talk between the three of them passed when they heard Erica's voice through their com-links.

"Good job you three, we'll contact you tomorrow for the results. For now head back to the dorms and rest up, you may have a long week ahead of you."

With that foreshadowing on their minds, they deactivated their suits and used the tethers to get down from their machines. As the three exited the testing area, Erica went back to her terminal. As she inputted the data of the three pilots, one of the personnel called her.

"Ms. Erica?"

She looked away from her records for a moment. "What is it?"

"Colonel Kisaka would like to speak to you."

Colonel Kisaka? Is it about Cagalli…? "Patch him through," Erica heard a distinctive buzz in her earpiece. A deep yet gentle voice began to speak.

"Ms. Erica, the lifeboats from Heliopolis were retrieved from the ocean not too long ago. Cagalli has returned from the one that had been taken to the Onogoro military port, and the guards say she insisted on speaking to you. I think she's heading to the underground facility."

No doubt she knows what's happening by now, Erica thought. This might be a good time to try and persuade her about the mobile suits… "I'll be sure to meet her at the entrance then."

"I'll be leaving her in your hands then. The collection of the lifeboats are still underway, and my unit still has its hands full. Kisaka out."

Ever the busy-body, Erica thought humorously. She knew she would be getting an earful from Cagalli when she speaks to her. She paused for a moment. There were still two other recruits who were due to be tested. "Tell the remaining recruits to standby for further instructions."

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

"_Standby?"_ Asagi asked out loud. It wasn't like anyone was going to reply to her anyway. "We've been waiting for hours!"

She let out an exasperated sigh. Unlike her, Ziek was still calmly sitting in place despite being disappointed about the announcement. He found her pacing back and forth like a child that couldn't wait anymore entertaining though. The news on television was now about the escape shuttles from Heliopolis being retrieved from their atmospheric descent after their almost three day journey. He instantly remembered Cagalli.

"You think she's there?"

"Who?" Asagi asked, her mind still a little preoccupied.

"Cagalli."

Asagi looked at the news and realized what he was talking about. She sighed and saw that Ziek looked worried. She gave him a light punch on the arm. "C'mon, I bet she's fine," she reassured him. He felt his anxiety start to kick in and got up. No, scratch that, he felt his stomach growling.

"You think we have time to look for a vending machine or something here? I'm hungry."

Asagi blinked. She couldn't help but laugh a little though. He liked to jump from one topic to another. "Why not, I think we'll hear the announcement anyway."

There were intercoms littered around the entire facility, so if they were called they'd hear it. The two of them exited the room in search for something that could settle Ziek's stomach. They arrived there some time after lunch, and now it was sometime in the afternoon already. He was a heavy eater, and Asagi would always joke about him having the appetite of a black hole. They wandered around for a little bit, stopping and admiring the facility here and there. Before long, they found another one of the hangars. They noticed someone was in front of the viewing window, wearing what looked like short, brown trench-coat. The person had bright blonde hair like that reached just past the neck like Asagi's.

That guy looks familiar, Ziek thought. Then, when the 'guy' turned around, the guy turned out to be a she. Ziek had to hold himself back a bit, but he took a few steps forward to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Maybe he was imagining but it looked like…

"Ms. Cagalli!" came Asagi's voice booming from behind. The blonde in the distance turned around and his assumption was right. Cagalli Yula Atha, the prodigal 'princess' of the Orb Union, has returned. To say he was relieved was understating it. He saw Cagalli's expression though, and she looked… something like irritated, but then he couldn't quite describe it. Her fierce hazel eyes darted their way, and her features softened somewhat upon seeing them. Ziek ran to her side.

"Well at least you're not dead," he said light-heartedly.

Cagalli laughed, but it was devoid of any positive emotion. "Very funny. Where's Ms. Erica? I have to speak with her," almost immediately, they heard the hiss of a mechanical door opening.

"I told you to wait for me at the entrance. But I think I can take your eagerness as a sign," a voice called out to their side. Stepping out of a doorway, Erica quickly went towards Cagalli. Immediately, the latter pushed Ziek aside lightly and stared daggers at the senior engineer. He took the signal and backed off a little, and Asagi went to stand by his side.

"What the hell is all of this?" Cagalli demanded.

"I think you should calm down for a moment."

"Calm down? Heliopolis was destroyed because these _things_ were being produced by Orb and you want me to calm down?" Cagalli's fists were clenched tight. She took a few deep breaths before continuing. "What about my father? Did he know anything about this?"

Erica sighed. "I can assure you that Lord Uzumi didn't know anything about the G-Project being produced in Heliopolis."

"Like I can believe that!"

As their argument dragged on, something dawned on Ziek. The Earth Alliance mobiles suits were made by Orb? He thought. "Does that mean Orb made these from data they got from the Alliance suits?"

The two of them stopped arguing for a moment, and Erica turned to answer. "Well you're quite the sharp one," she paused for a moment, realizing she didn't know who Ziek was. "What was your name?"

Ziek straightened himself out. "Ziek Hona Strive, a recruit from the Academy, ma'am."

Erica looked at Ziek then her gaze shifted towards the blonde girl just behind him. "I take it the other one is Asagi Caldwell? What are you doing out of the waiting area? We put you two on standby."

"I was hungry," he said flatly.

An awkward silence filled the air. Cagalli cracked a smile and looked at Ziek with a gaze of amusement. Erica herself scratched her head in a sort of fascination. The last few candidates seemed to be very interesting. For a moment Cagalli seemed to forget what she had come there for. However, the effects of Ziek's reply didn't last long, but before she could say anything, Erica held her hand in front of her, signaling for Cagalli not to say anything for now. "These two still need to have their evaluations finished. You're welcome to join them if you'd like."

Cagalli seemed apprehensive, but her temper from before had died down a little. It wasn't like she didn't understand that her nation had to do things to keep its neutrality. But the destruction of Heliopolis was indirectly caused by Orb assisting the Earth Alliance. If her father really didn't know anything about it, wasn't it his job to find out and take action? Of course she knew it was all in the past, however. None of her griping would bring Heliopolis or the lives that had been lost back. She remembered the boy she met on the colony. I hope he made it out of there, she thought.

As they walked alongside Erica, Asagi tried to initiate small talk. "So what happened Ms. Cagalli? Did you get to see the Earth Alliance's mobile suits?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I did," she replied absentmindedly. Asagi frowned a little at how she wasn't paying much attention.

"I don't think now's a good time for her, Asagi. She's probably tired… and cranky," Ziek said, trying to get Cagalli to laugh or something. She still had her head down, but she seemed to let out a contented sigh.

"I'm sorry, I'm just… I don't know…"

They finally reached the testing area, with Mica waiting just outside. She saw Cagalli and did a curtsy despite her pilot suit. Ziek raised his eyebrows. That sort of action didn't seem to suit someone like her. "Miss Athha," she said, a smirk playing at her lips.

"Mica, I told you to stop that."

"My apologies, Cagalli. May I borrow Ziek for a moment?" she asked, but she didn't wait for a reply. Asagi called out after them, but Mica had already dragged Ziek around the corner before he could do anything about it.

"We'll be going ahead then," Erica called out from behind them. Mica heard the doors open and close with that distinct hissing. She turned to face Ziek, who had no idea what was going on.

"Yes m'lady?" he asked mockingly.

"Do you really want to go through with this?"

Ziek looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Mica huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "If and when you actually pilot a mobile suit, you have to kill whoever gets in your way to survive. Do you understand that?"

At first Ziek didn't get what she was saying. It might have been about fighting Naturals and Coordinators alike, which clashed with his idea of them understanding each other. It was true, he knew that both 'races' wouldn't be able to settle their differences in one instant. Moreover maybe it was impossible, but he always had the idea that one day it could happen. Right now though, if he had to fight, he would. He was an optimist, but he understood the reality of most situations. He would fight if he had to, as that was his immediate priority. Understanding one another would take time.

"I do, Mica. It's why I accepted in the first place."

She stopped and analyzed him for a moment. This was the same guy who managed to match and eventually top her performance in a flight-simulator at the Academy, after his first two weeks of enrolling. What's more, he was a _Natural_. Something like that, even if it was petty, seemed like it was an insult to her, a Coordinator, someone who was supposed to be superior to them in every way. Even though he had told her that he had practice from flight simulators before, she still couldn't accept it. But as she continued to harass him with her ridiculous challenges, and she was beaten every so often, she slowly understood. Maybe Naturals and Coordinators can stand on equal ground. Hell, sometimes it was because she helped him understand some things that he became better than her at it.

All that aside however, she meant her question in an entirely different manner as to how he had understood it. But right now, she didn't want to think on it. He gave her a satisfactory answer, and she would leave it at that.

"Alright then, good luck," she said, seeming content.

"Er, thanks?"

He followed her towards the testing area. They entered through the door, and Ziek was greeted by three looming giants. The M1 Astrays were right in front of him, waiting to be tested out. Unable to contain his enthusiasm, he launched himself onto one of them. "So awesome," he said with glee as he hugged the foot of 'his' unit. Asagi and Cagalli watched him awkwardly from a distance. He turned when he noticed Cagalli was mounting a tether.

"You're testing it out too?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. It struck him as odd, seeing as she was fuming about them not too long ago.

Cagalli looked at him seriously. She wasn't going to make any excuses. "If we have power like this it means we can share it with other people. There are others who can't protect their homes like they want to."

Her 'family' in the Desert Dawn resistance group immediately came to mind. It wasn't a secret that the princess of Orb had her own agenda, at least not to people she knew personally. He'd never accompanied her before, but how she spoke of them told a lot about her care for them.

In northern Africa there was a place occupied by ZAFT, controlled by the renowned 'Desert Tiger', Andrew Waltfeld. Since ZAFT had started gaining territory within northern Africa since the Desert Tiger led its forces there, resistance fighters have tried in earnest to oppose ZAFT's rule. The leader of Desert Dawn, Sahib Ashman, was old friends with the Athha family, as well as Cagalli's 'bodyguard', Ledonir Kisaka, who was born in Tassil, a town that was now under ZAFT's control. That was the gist of whatever Cagalli let him know, and that she'd been there many times before, whenever she went missing for days or weeks on end.

He went up to her and put his face right beside hers. "Are you planning to get use these suits to sneak out again?"

She looked a little apprehensive. When she didn't reply, it was all Ziek needed to confirm it. He went back to his mobile suit, mounted the tether, and, once he was there, strapped himself inside the cockpit. As the hatch closed, he flicked the switches on the dashboard, and the HUD came to life.

"**G**eneral **U**nilateral **N**euro-link **D**ispersive **A**utonomic **M**aneuver… GUNDAM…" he adjusted a few more switches as he gripped the controls. "I'm liking the name. Let's see what you can do then."

_**Author's Notes: Apologies to whoever read the previous first chapter of this. I felt like it was still lacking, but I'd jumped the gun and submitted it out of excitement. I made some adjustments to the one that had already been posted before, as well as made it longer overall, because I wanted to imagine its events like how it would happen in an 'episode' of the anime, but at the same time, still make it seem like an actual 'novel' of sorts. **_

_**I also changed some minor details about the conversations and about some characters, if you didn't catch them, then just don't mind it, all the better. I want to stick to this for now, so the PASWG stories I've been making might be put on temporary hiatus. Apologies again, and please comment as you see fit, just don't be too rude, if ever you have any constructive complaints ^_^**_

_**That's all for now then~**_


	2. PHASE 02 Project Caprificus

After the acronym disappeared from the small screen in front of him, the larger screen behind it showed a bright picture of things that were to his front and his sides that was achieved with the main cameras located in the head, unlike an atmospheric fighter's, which had a clear cockpit to see out of. Ziek was amazed at the technology, and he excitedly put his hands on the motion controls. The moment he was about to engage them, he heard a blip from the cockpit's speakers. Something had popped into his com-link, and shortly after the other two popped up. Cagalli and Asagi's faces were framed inside two little windows on the top right corner on his screen, while the frame that came before, a long, thinner one with a small bar with erratically moving lines that said 'Sound Only' on the bottom, chimed in with Erica's voice.

"Cagalli, you're trying it out first. Ziek and Asagi please wait for a moment."

Cagalli heard a disappointed grumble from Ziek over the com-link. "Don't worry hotshot, you'll get your chance," she teased.

Gripping the controls at the side, she began to reassure herself that she could do it. All her anger from before aside, a mobile suit was a pretty advanced piece of technology, and the idea of piloting one made her feel anticipation like never before. Given that compared to an atmospheric fighter the controls were so radically different they were alien and that she wasn't even given time to understand how _anything_ worked, she hoped for the best. Those flight-simulator rankings she got weren't for nothing. Even though she wasn't a formal recruit, her scores were high enough to put most of the actual recruits to shame, save for the few gifted ones, like Mica or Ziek and the three 'Charlie's Angels', and probably a few others. But then again piloting something she knew nothing about would take nothing short of a miracle. No, I've got to get accepted, or else I won't be able to bring this to Desert Dawn, she thought.

Breathing out slowly, she relied on her instincts. She wouldn't be able to adjust any of the variables and settings or whatever while she piloted it right now, but if she could at least get the thing to move, she may have a chance. She eased the two controls she gripped forward. They were blocky and were along a grid that looked like it was for a vintage manual-transmission car, so it probably gave _some_ kind of motion. Sure enough, the unit started to walk forward, slowly and steadily. She noticed a pedal resting at each of her feet, and she decided to experiment. Tapping it a little lightly at first, she heard some sort of hum. Feeling a little curious, she slammed it down like a gas pedal, and she felt gravity push back on her as the Astray took a sharp ascent into the air.

"Oh dammit all," she squeaked as her Astray rose higher. It wasn't that she wasn't used to being up in the air, but the mere fact she didn't know it would happen caught her off-guard. She abruptly let go of the pedal, and her Astray began falling back down. In her slight panic she activated something, a dull and repeating clicking sound emanating from the head. She realized her targeting reticule was dead-centered onto these red, circular things in the distance, and as she was falling it registered on her screen that she managed to hit three of them. Pulling back frantically on the two blocky controllers, and easing the pedals back and forth, she managed to get her unit upright before gravity smashed it into the ground. Her Astray landed with a loud metallic thud, slightly shaking up the entire area, but otherwise safely.

"I think I found the thruster controls," Cagalli said sheepishly.

Not that she was underestimating the 'princess' of Orb, but despite Cagalli not having even a brief review of how to work the unit, the fact that she managed to outdo most of the recruits that came before her was a pleasant surprise on Erica's part. "That's fine Cagalli, that was… very interesting to watch."

Ziek's voice sounded over in Cagalli's cockpit. "Especially with all that squee-ing she was doing. You forgot to turn off your com-link by the way."

Flushed red, she made a punching motion towards the little frame containing Ziek's smug expression. "Oh shut the hell up."

"That's enough of that then," Erica interrupted. "Asagi, you're up."

"Yes ma'am." She replied dutifully.

Given that Cagalli had done well despite her lack of a briefing, Asagi's confidence was practically radiating off of her. She pushed the controls and her unit began to move. The motion was fluid, even as it eventually broke into a run. It eased to a stop, and slowly she began to assume fighting stances, some sloppy, but she didn't care. She was out to show what she could do, whether it looked like her mobile suit was having a seizure or looked like it was about to rip the main-cameras out of a GINN. She was always one to make baby steps though, using caution and reason as her ally, not having the foresight or tactical thinking of someone like Juri to be able to assess things before she took action, or the raw instincts of someone like Mayura that let her do things from what their gut told them. Maybe that's why she kept the group grounded most of the time. If anyone asked, Juri and Mayura would always answer that Asagi was the de facto leader amongst the three girls. Because they always labeled her that way she wanted to always set a good example.

Asagi lined up her reticule on the targets. After the noise died down, it registered she got only one of them. She sighed, but she was content with the rest of her performance at least. She leaned back on her seat, rubbing her shoulders from the tension that built up. Her jitters had gone away, so right now all she felt was relief that she didn't screw anything up. "I'm done Ms. Erica."

"Alright, good work. Ziek, whenever you're ready."

He could barely contain himself that as Erica finished her sentence. He wanted to try out what he had learned from the 'tutorial' earlier, as well as seeing how far his raw piloting instincts could bring him. One thing he knew from piloting anything was that he had to think and act quick. He liked atmospheric fighters because of their style: fast and efficient. You also had to be able to multitask whenever you planned on piloting anything. From the status of your unit to the number of enemies you'll be engaging, you have to be aware of all of it. He had an acute sense of precise urgency whenever a situation called for it, and he executed whatever he needed to with efficiency, whether it was engaging multiple targets to cooling the barrel of the beam turret to stabilizing temperature within the unit to reloading the missile bays. Obviously he had his slipups, but he tried in earnest to learn from them. Additionally, whenever he piloted anything, even in simulation, his attitude towards it was to consider it an actual firefight. That made his adrenaline go full blast to a point he could think and focus, and now it allowed his imagination paint a clear picture of his fabricated battlefield.

His unit started running to avoid a shell from a slow firing weapon, a bazooka. His Astray tripped on itself as it barely evaded the blast-radius, but he managed to stop a complete fall when he pulled back on the controls. Not sure exactly what to do, his thrusters fired, managing to help in getting his unit upright again. He had no time to recollect himself, he realized there was a second mobile suit as the heat sensors went crazy, sending a loud ring throughout the cockpit when a few anti-armor missiles were released toward him. His Astray did a quick hop, activating the thrusters as he went to aid in completing a complete 180 degree turn, and the Igelstellungs fired off its payload, managing to take out four of five missiles. The last one headed straight for his cockpit. His Astray reared up for a punch, waiting for the right moment. It bounded forward, thrusters engaged, and a burst of mechanical power surged forward through the joints and into his Astray's fist, deflecting the last missile back to his assailants, who were engulfed in a powerful explosion. In reality you couldn't deflect an actual missile with a punch, but he indulged himself. When he came back from his little world, he was standing in front of the red targets, with one of them slightly indented into the wall now.

"I think that makes five out of five," he said triumphantly.

Erica gave off an appreciative chuckle. It wasn't the smoothest of runs she'd seen, but the kid managed to meet some expectations. There wasn't really any rule as to how you managed to hit the targets, whether it was long or close range. Ziek did the latter, after running and almost falling over completely to get in front of the wall, but he managed to recover quickly and went trigger happy at point blank. The stances he did was pretty decent too, but Erica was sure punching the target didn't count. Then again, she liked that he thought out of the box.

"Four out of five actually," she said in response. Ziek pouted.

"Bah."

All three of them were instructed to wait for further instructions, and in the meantime they opened their com-links to one another. Cagalli's face popped up on Ziek's monitor.

"Not too shabby."

Ziek smirked, eyebrows raised. "Not so bad yourself, princess squee-zums."

"I swear to god if you better forget that-"

"Now what do we do?" Asagi interjected.

"We wait I guess?" Ziek shrugged. As they waited a few more moments Erica's voice sounded in all three of their cockpits.

"Alright you three, well Ziek and Asagi anyway, you'll all be informed of anything first thing in the morning. You can all head back to the Academy now," she paused. "Cagalli, you may want to go to your father if you want any answers."

Cagalli's gaze wandered for a moment. "I… I don't think I want to see him right now. Please give him my regards."

Ziek looked at Cagalli's expression. It was pained, like her father's 'betrayal' stabbed her in the heart. He didn't know the extent of what she felt, but he could imagine. Knowing that her father, who was supposed to be the one who protected Orb's citizens and keep its ideals, went and agreed with the Earth Alliance to build machines of war. Because of that, Heliopolis was destroyed, and who knows how many people were killed. He had to hope there was another side to it though, because he always doubted anything was ever that one-sided. Cagalli's father was many things, but he was foremost known as a man of conviction, a man of purpose and ideals, always pursuing what was best for his people. He wasn't one to be deluded by the lies and slander of the Earth Alliance, at least not their Blue Cosmos leaders, always indirectly pressuring all the other neutral nations to blindly condemn Coordinators. Lord Uzumi Nara Athha was a much more sensible man than many others. If he did something, it was for the good of his people, like a lion does so with his pride. It was because of his traits and his courageous take on their neutrality that Lord Uzumi was known as the Lion of Orb, and many looked up to him, Ziek included.

The three of them found the vending machine they'd come across each other at and took out a soft drink each, except for Ziek. He hated the stuff, comparing drinking one to having your throat pricked with needles. So he got a box of juice instead.

"What are you a kid?" Cagalli asked as they made their way to sit down on some a bench a ways away from the vending machine.

Ziek stabbed the straw into the box before answering. "Why yes, yes I am. Last time I checked you were too," he teased. Asagi sat down beside Ziek and watched as Cagalli stopped a moment.

"I'm the heir of Orb, I don't have time to act my age."

Asagi stood up and embraced the sulking princess while patting her head. "There there~" she said playfully.

"Gee, thanks," Cagalli replied, only half sarcastically.

"Let's hit the simulations before we head back for real. I bet we can sneak our way in. That always gets you in a good mood," Asagi suggested. Cagalli lit up a little.

"Why not, I bet I can beat Ziek's score this time," she said with a smirk.

Ziek stood up and finished the last of his drink, crumpling the flimsy cardboard container in his hand and throwing it dead center into the trashcan not too far from them. "I'd like to see you try 'princess.'"

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

Erica sat down in her main office. It was quite spacious, large and rectangular, with twenty large quantum computers surrounding one main terminal which she used to communicate with them. Each had its own AI and she even gave every one of them a name. She sat down in front of the main terminal and put on the mic she used to 'speak' to them with. Right now, after all the results that she had gathered from the battery of tests, there was still a few problems she had to work on, namely, the few Alter Frame units she had developed in secret, even from Morgenroete's benefactor, the Sahaku family.

"Good evening Erica, what brings you here tonight?" One of the computers greeted in its mechanical voice.

"Good evening Cygnus. It's about the Alter Frames today."

"Bringing those things up again? We doubt there would be any practical usage for them. They cost too much to mass produce, that's why we all agreed on the M1s" two voices chimed in.

"Gemini 01 and 02 just don't see the possibilities those units hold," another voice interrupted. "We agreed to create them in the first place. Why not find a way to develop them?"

"There _is_ the problem of piloting ability, Canopus. Although the units were supposed to be similar to the GAT-X105, I doubt Natural pilots can bring out their full potential."

The computers started arguing about the pros and cons of further development for the 'Striker packs' of the Alter units. Having found meaningless the idea of multiple roles in battle with no way of effectively delivering them on the fly, which was one supposed issue of the GAT-X105, codename Strike, further development of the 'Caprificus' project was halted, which was the project that included the Alter Frames. It left Morgenroete with six units, while having slightly higher specs than the mass production M1, the cost that would be garnered from developing similar 'Striker' packs and leaving it in the hands of a Natural using a half-baked OS would prove too high for some of the computers' liking. At one point, the idea of specialized packs for each unit, such as adding atmospheric flight for all of them, which the M1 Astrays lacked, came up, however the problem of having an effective enough pilot for each unit was still a problem. Mica was already an obvious candidate, but for the other five units, they couldn't just let anyone pilot them.

"If I may interject," Erica said suddenly. "The data we had gathered shows great promise in the recruits. With enough training in respect to the pilot and tweaking the O.S. of all the Alter units to use what was onboard the M1, I predict a small yet effective platoon of specialized mobile suits. Although I do agree that similar to the GAT-X105, there is no effective way to change equipment on the fly, training the most proficient recruits with their own specialization early on may prove beneficial."

"Additionally, the added fact that each unit already has a system that can adapt weapons of both ZAFT and Earth Alliance can help in the quick development of a 'Striker pack' for each unit by mere trial of each candidate with various weapons. I trust your friend The Professor might be able to help with that," One computer commented.

It was a genius feature, suggested by Mica after the original five Orb prototypes were developed. The girl had foresight about things like that. While the MBF - PO1 until PO5 units lacked the hardware to effectively adapt weapons from other militaries, the Alter Frames had one built in which calibrated everything quickly to prevent any part the weapon is connected to from overloading. That said, acquiring supposed weapons and developing their own arsenal from it was a little far-fetched, however once The Professor and her crew return to Orb from their collection mission, Morgenroete would be able to gather, analyze, and eventually develop several weapons for their own. The data from a DINN's backpack would prove useful for atmospheric flight. Other than that they'd have to go by what they could get.

As the other quantum computers argued on, Erica brought up the data from the six Alter Frames. Each one of them was identical to the M1 Astrays, right down to the color, except they all lacked the fixed backpacks of the M1s, instead having hard-points for the use of the aforementioned Striker Packs. Other than that the 1st Alter Frame unit was still in its production colors, a pristine white with silver accents running along the arms and legs, and the red coloration of the vents and the 'V fin'. It was the unit that Mica had first used to develop the Natural-use O.S. All of these units were kept safely in a loading dock at the back of the above ground facility, which was strictly off limits to anyone who didn't know of their existence.

Erica typed in a few more command lines before speaking to her 'colleagues' again. "I'm sending the videos and data results of the candidates I think would be suitable for the last five units of project 'Caprificus'."

As the progress bar that had popped up reached one-hundred percent, the voices of each quantum computer fell silent as they analyzed the candidates that Erica had recommended, namely, in order of potential, after Mica of course, Ricard Andras, Asagi Caldwell, Ziek Hona Strive, Mayura Labatt, and Juri Wu Nien. As Erica herself reviewed her records, one of the computers sounded, giving an approving beep.

"The data you've gathered proves promising. All in favor of restarting the Caprificus project, on grounds of specific unit specialization?" A unanimous and mechanical 'Aye' filled the room. Based on the string of data during the tests the twenty quantum computers had started creating blueprints based off results that the candidates had given them.

"We will inform you of our progress on your next visit. Good night then Erica."

"Thank you, and good night all of you. Don't stress yourselves too much."

Some may find it odd to be talking to a bunch of mechanical objects, but those computers had become part of her own little family of mechanical engineers. That and they were all like her, something created by humans. She was a Coordinator after all. Then again, it was because of their twenty quantum processing 'brains' that she was able to come up with her own designs for mobile suits and weaponry. As one could notice all of them did not always agree on one particular thing. It was how they worked; one would suggest a theory, concept, or design and the others would vote on whether it will be passed based on their own opinions. It was like being in a class of children who voted on who had the best drawing, except those children were highly intelligent AI and those drawings were crucial to the creation of Orb's weapons and defenses.

Elsewhere, Ricard and his two companions from the testing grounds were heading back to the Academy dorms as evening dragged on. They passed all the different testing areas and hangars and whatnot on their way there.

"I hope we pass," Mayura started, trying to break the silence a little. Ricard's being there had her a little on edge, but she managed to compose herself well enough, at least she hoped.

"I'm sure we will," Ricard replied with a small smile. Mayura managed to smile back as well.

"Well, I want to pass mostly so I can see those things up close. I bet I could find a way to squeeze in some reaction time out of the joints, and that targeting system was busted! It needs to be calibrated more, I was sure my aim was dead center, then again it could've been something wrong with the fire-link system or maybe the sensors of the targeting module, like what used to happen to the CIWS of the Skygraspers," Mayura started to ramble on, and Juri couldn't suppress a content sigh. Ricard was a little intrigued, but he didn't want to interrupt Mayura when she looked so happy in expressing her thoughts. He turned to Juri with a question.

"Does she get like this a lot?"

"Yeah, most of the time it's short and sweet, but with something like a mobile suit this could take a while."

As they exited Morgenroete's main building they were greeted by the vast night sky. The stars shined brightly at the island of Onogoro, away from the light pollution of the mainland. Peaceful nights like these might come to an end soon, they all thought. Still, right now it was serene, and they took in the cold night air like it was their last. The three of them found a bench to sit on first before they decided to head back for real. Ricard reclined on the cold metal, finding the slight chill somewhat comforting.

"Y'know when I first met you guys I never thought you were actually serious about becoming test pilots. I thought you two and Asagi were just one of those people who did it for kicks, er, no offense."

The girls laughed a little. Well, it was slightly true. You'd never expect young women to volunteer to become test pilots for weapons of war.

"I'm in it to be able to work with those things up close. The tech on those things is amazing," Mayura stated with glee. Though she didn't look like the techie type, she had a passion for it that surpassed anyone else. Now that she was more comfortable around Ricard, she went on about how she was a little reckless when it came to piloting things, but it was mostly due to her enthusiasm than anything else. Her parents were engineers for Morgenroete, having basically raised her to have a mindset like theirs. So whatever she was taught and whatever she had to test pilot she was essentially troubleshooting them in her head, figuring out what she could do to improve anything and everything. She wasn't the best pilot around, but she was one hell of an impromptu mechanic when she had to be.

As the other two conversed, Juri sighed. It must have been nice having something to be so passionate about. She volunteered to become a recruit just like Asagi and Mayura so long ago she barely remembered how she was persuaded into doing so. She honestly didn't like the idea of fighting and having her life at risk. All she ever wanted was to stay safe at home playing video games and hope Orb doesn't suddenly get ransacked by gunfire and explosions in the middle of the night. They were a neutral nation, so the other militaries wouldn't dare harm them, right? That was how she rationalized it. But then again, seeing the need arise, she went with Asagi and Mayura to volunteer. She meant well and she wanted to do what she could, but she just wasn't too keen on, you know, hypothetically speaking since it was what they were training for, fighting in the war. It wasn't like video games. There aren't any 1ups, respawns, or save points, and once you get killed once, it's game over. No use complaining about it now, she thought. I guess I'll make the most of it.

"W-what about you Ricard?" Mayura asked, stuttering slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"I think she means how you wound up being a test-pilot," Juri cut in. Mayura politely nodded in agreement. Ricard's everlasting smile didn't falter. He leaned forward and looked at the scenery in front of him. The bench they were on was situated right near the waterside, the vast ocean spreading before them with its calming waves lapping softly against Onogoro's metal and concrete border.

"You could say it called out to me," he replied simply. Juri turned to face Ricard, her head tilting to the side in intrigue.

"What do you mean?"

Ricard stood up. He heard faint noises of gunfire in his head, along with various medical equipment all situated around him, and that familiar uniform that he thought he had long escaped but kept coming back to his dreams. He was luckier than the 'others', but he couldn't escape what had been done.

"The war," he started softly. "It's calling out to me."

That statement left the other two girls a little bewildered. Mayura was the first one to follow up.

"Well it does seem to be coming to us, the war I mean. I guess that means it's calling out to me too."

Ricard blinked. He looked back at the girl. She seemed to be trying to relate with him. He looked at her with gentle eyes. She fidgeted.

"You're a sweet girl, do you know that?" he said outright.

Ding-ding-ding, Mayura felt like she hit the jackpot. She felt high as a cloud. She wanted to squee like a little girl, but she kept it inside. She just gave off a sheepish smile, while Juri proceeded to gag at the amount of mush that was currently present in the atmosphere. The three of them laughed, and decided to head back to the dorms to get a good night's rest.

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

_**January 29, C.E.71**_

The morning after, it was quiet as always inside his quarters. The dorms weren't anything special, just one big complex like any other with a room assigned for two to three recruits. Ziek never had any roommates, but he didn't mind. He was fine with meeting up with people at the Academy, but he couldn't imagine living each and every day with them. Then again, it could've been nice. It might have helped him wake up in the morning.

He got up lazily off his bed. As was routine, he crumpled back down and dozed off for another five minutes before jolting upright once more, assessing if he had the necessary motivation to wake up already. Maybe today would be one of those days he managed to wake up on the second go.

Nope.

He crumpled back down. Last night with the two girls had been a rough one, no underlying meaning intended. They managed to sneak into the main building of the Academy, but as always there were cameras they needed to avoid, and with their lackluster coordination, they tripped, bickered, and generally almost got caught more times than they'd liked. In the end, it was a good night though, as he still managed to hold on to his top score on the simulators while Cagalli was only a hair's breadth behind his, Mica's, and Ricard's scores. It annoyed the little princess to no end. Asagi was content with watching in amusement as her two companions had a furious simulation session. No doubt someone would notice the usage, but it didn't really warrant an actual punishment if they got caught. It usually just meant cleaning duty, maybe a required essay on the fundamentality of 'insert military term here', but nothing too serious.

Against all odds he managed to throw himself off the bed and land on his face. It somewhat awakened him, and he got up and started to get ready for the day. Cereal? Check. Cereal bowl? Check. Milk carton? Check. Swiss army knife with spoon function? Check. After he finished three bowls of cereal he brushed his teeth, took a bath, and wore a long white sweater underneath his Academy-issued jacket. He left his sweater un-tucked out of his light-blue jeans, and finally he tied the knot on his boots. Another day, same old routine. He marched out of his room and made his way towards the main building. Before he even got a few steps away from his dorm room however, there was a person waiting for him down the hall.

"Ziek Hona Strive?" he asked. He looked like one of the personnel from Morgenroete yesterday.

"Yes?"

"Ms. Erica has asked for your presence. I am to escort you to the underground facility."

Ziek merely nodded. He was too preoccupied with the things racing through his mind. He was probably jumping the gun a little but this was probably about piloting the Astrays. The only words he could hear his brain generate were ecstatic "oh my god"s and "holy crap"s.

Like some cliché movie setting the person who picked Ziek up didn't say anything else. It would have been awkward walking almost a kilometer in total silence but as they exited the dorm building the guy told Ziek to wait for a moment as he called the others. Ziek sat down on a nearby bench, and one by one, he saw some pleasantly familiar faces. With about five minute intervals from each other, Asagi, Ricard, and Mayura were all waiting with Ziek.

Asagi was absent-mindedly poking a rock with her shoe before she spoke. "What do you guys think this is about?"

"I hope it isn't about the simulators," Ziek said jokingly.

Mayura let out a sarcastic sigh. "You guys did it again?"

Ricard let out a laugh. "Still got the top spot Ziek?"

"Like I'd let anyone else take it from me."

The more they talked the more they seemed to forget about why they were there in the first place. When Juri came out and the man who had called them all told them to follow him, they had nothing to do but follow. It wasn't that long a walk from the dorms to Morgenroete, but seeing as it was first thing in the morning some of them couldn't help but groan. They talked to each other about random subjects to keep them occupied until they finally reached Morgenroete, and eventually, the underground facility. Erica was waiting for them just outside the elevator. She led them to a meeting room to properly inform them of what they were about to do. They all sat down on the chairs that were set up for them before Erica finally spoke.

"I think you all can take a guess as to what I'm about to say."

"Do indulge us," Ricard called from his seat. Erica smiled a little.

"If it isn't blatantly obvious, you've all ranked highest on the test yesterday. Congratulations."

The lot of them stayed quiet for a bit. Well how were they supposed to react? Jumping and screaming like a bunch of idiots? Thinking on it, it was a bit odd. So what did it mean? Ziek leaned forwards a little and started to speak.

"So, what, that's it?" he asked. Erica cocked her head to the side.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, yeah, we passed, now what?"

The senior engineer moved towards the hologram-capable board to one side of the room. With a motion of her hand, various data and charts filled the spaces, and Erica kept her eye on it until everything was in place. She turned to face them again.

"Starting today you will all be trained to become leaders of, what we hope will be, Orb's elite mobile squadron, The Caprificus Corps."

"Whoa, wait, what?" Asagi cut in.

"Is there a problem Ms. Caldwell?" Erica asked. Asagi stood up to answer properly.

"With all due respect ma'am, by mobile squadron, you mean actual combat?"

"Yes."

"With guns."

"Well, yes."

"And explosions."

"Erm, that's certainly a possibility."

"And dying?"

The room went silent, save for the hum of the holograms on the board. This was all happening a little too fast for Asagi's liking. Erica started to answer

"As much as possible, we will put all of our extra resources into this project so that scenario can be prevented."

"If I may interject," Ricard said from his corner. "I understand being test-pilots, and making sure the equipment is further developed and kept in good order, but wouldn't the more experienced soldiers of Orb's forces make more sense to be enlisted for something like this?"

It was good that the kids were asking questions, Erica thought. They're not stupid enough to jump into a situation without knowing the details first. "The other men and women of the Orb forces are currently occupied with making sure our defense perimeters and war assets are in check. They don't have manpower to spare. As of now, the five of you along with Mica are the ones that show the most potential, and put simply, already have the most experience with these machines. There isn't any more time to convince stubborn old soldiers to pilot an experimental weapon that might not even be ready if and when we get attacked, we just don't have the time or leisure for it."

"If and when?" Juri called out, anxiety coating her voice. "Ma'am, you make it sound like we're going to be targeted by ZAFT or the Earth Alliance. We don't have anything that would interest them, unless…" Juri thought for a moment of a plausible reason. Well, there was the obvious, gaping one that was right in front of them. "Are they going to attack us because of the Astray units? Do they already know about them?"

Erica raised her hand to try and get a word in before anything else was said. "Both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance do not know of the presence of the Astray units. However, with things going as badly as they are now, Orb is now preparing itself for every possible contingency plan that it can make, and that includes the creation of the Caprificus Corps."

Another bout of silence filled the room. Each of them had a reason going for and going against joining this little project. On the one hand, they would be contributing greatly to the advancement of the technology within Orb. On the other, they may very well one day be part of the ones putting their lives on the line. They expected that to happen eventually, once they were out of the academy training, which would supposedly take a several more years. But right now? Being thrust into something like this was a little sudden. No, not a little, _really _sudden.

"I accept," Mayura said from her seat. The others looked at her, a little awed.

"M-Mayura? You sure?" Asagi asked.

"Yeah, I am. If it'll help Orb, I'm all for it. You'll let me analyze those things right?" she tried to suppress a smile as she asked Erica.

The senior engineer knew where this was coming from. She was the daughter of two of her staff members. Always wanting to analyze and better any and every technological device they could find. Admirable traits, she thought. "Of course. Each of you will take one unit. Should you all accept, you will all have the freedom to adjust any settings and variables that are predicted by the projected finalized designs."

Mayura's smile just got wider. "Nice."

"I'm in too," Ricard said. Mayura looked at him, her smile turning a bit awkward. "Can't let you go alone now can I?"

"I'm for it," Ziek finally answered. He motioned to the screen and pointed. "Dibs on the white one."

Erica looked back at the screen and remembered about the sixth unit, still in its production colors. Supposedly, it was Mica's. She used that same unit to design the prototype O.S. for all the other mass-production M1s, and had probably made adjustments to it ever since. As if on cue, Mica stepped into the room, carrying bags with one arm and dragging a sack of helmets with the other.

"So, they accept yet?" she asked Erica bluntly.

"Most of them have, Asagi and Juri are still-"

"We're in too," Asagi interrupted. Erica looked over in their general direction and they just smiled and nodded meekly. Mica dropped her cargo and began taking something out of the bags.

"That settles that then," She threw a pilot suit at each one of the new recruits, cutesy pink suits for the girls, and navy blue suits for the guys. At least they thought it was navy blue, or dark blue. After that she handed out matching helmets as well.

"So," Ziek called out while looking at his reflection on the helmet visor. "Where do we start?"

Apparently where they started was basic fitness training. Over the course of the next few days they started using specialized facilities in the underground area of Morgenroete. Basic firearms and martial-arts training came sometime in the afternoon, in which the warm-up included running some laps around a field. Ziek personally hated jogging. He didn't have much stamina when it came to long distance running. He was more of a sprinter, like a sudden gush of wind before it disappeared. He couldn't argue though. They were all being put through the same thing. The almighty Erica Simmons wouldn't let them get a second breath. You signed up for this, you live with it, she always told them. Ziek himself actually excelled pretty well. He was a good sharp shooter, just behind Ricard and Mica. He could gain an edge on Ricard in self-defense and martial arts because of his quick reflexes, although every now and then he felt like his body moved on its own, like it just reacted to whatever danger it sensed and put his muscles in motion. Despite that Mica always seemed to outmatch him. He lagged behind on some of the more technical aspects, like getting to know the OS better, being able to reprogram things from scratch, that sort of stuff. Mayura was at the top of the class for that, right next to Mica, and she was the one helping him through the drills they had when some situations were being simulated inside the Astray units. She was a natural engineer and mechanic, and even Erica was impressed.

From late afternoon they improved the OS of their mobile suits. Each of them had their own units, and they all adjusted settings according to their preferred parameters. They had to know their mobile suits like the back of their hand, which allowed Erica to let them have unique settings that they were comfortable with. Their individualities extended up to their machines. They worked on the movement, fire-link systems, weapons systems, thrust limit, whatever they had to tweak, the more they were able to pilot their units fluidly and easily. While having individual OS settings seemed like it would make it harder to create weapons and additional equipment for their Astrays, those systems were universal and adaptable. Such was the foresight Erica had when she was designing the Astray Alter frames after she had finished the designs of the 'colored' Astray frames. Even more than that, once the additional equipment was added, with Mica's help they would be able to reprogram the OS to allow more precise adjustments. In the end, all of it would pay off. It had to.

Regarding their assigned units, Ziek was pretty depressed that he wasn't able to work with the white one. Apparently it was only used for the basis of the present OS that the other units were using, decoded and recoded by Mica herself, and she had already customized the OS to, quote unquote, something a Natural wouldn't be able to tamper with any more. Heck, he didn't even know where it was being kept. Whenever he asked Mica about it she claimed that it was kept in storage. During the final stages of the project however, she would pilot it in simulated combat against the other recruits. She was already the assigned pilot to it, and joining them during rudimentary movement exercises would just waste resources. So until the final stages and weapons development analysis, the world would not see hide nor hair of the White Frame. He called it that now. He knew it was just in its production colors but the term White Frame just had a ring to him. For now, he was using Alter Frame Unit 03 as a test-bed for whatever settings he deemed fit. Also, their unit numbers didn't really mean anything. Erica allowed them to decide their assigned units with lots. Thus Ziek got 03, Asagi was 02, Juri's 04, Mayura with 06, and Ricard with 01. Obviously to Ziek's disappointment, the White Frame, or Unit 01, wasn't among the choices.

While he was off plotting a way to pilot the White Frame, everyone else had settled in with their own Astray units. Ricard's tweaks included better response time from moving the control sticks, and he adjusted the thruster output to give better turning speed instead of forward power. Asagi tried to balance out the power drain and also tried to cut down reaction times. Mayura was busy experimenting with everything, so there wasn't really anything final about her settings yet. Despite being a budding mechanic, she didn't needed to train her muscle coordination more, since despite being able to adjust various settings her piloting ability was on par with Juri's. Not to say Juri was a horrible pilot. She just had some confidence issues. Juri tried to hot-wire the controls so that they were easier for her to use, something along the lines of a simulator or a video game instead of a war machine. It gave her more confidence if she could move the thing easily. By the end of the day they were physically and mentally battered, but each day they found something to keep them going. For Ziek it was pretty simple. He was going to learn about the OS so much that he would be able to pilot the White Frame if ever given the chance.

Their routine continued for an entire week. From five in the morning to nine in the evening, they only took breaks for food, or their occasional need to heed the call of nature. After their training on the 5th of February Ziek had stayed behind to see if he was able to decrypt this a few command lines that Mayura had set up for him as a challenge. It took him almost an hour of extra work, sitting there in the dark room with nothing but a monitor to keep him company but he managed to pull it off. He was starting to understand a lot of the sub-commands and variable protocols because of Mayura's help. He wondered if she was still lurking around, tinkering with her Astray's OS. He got up and stretched, before going to a vending machine and buying two cans of pineapple juice and heading to the hangar bays. Sure enough he saw a flickering light coming from one of the Astray cockpits.

The view whenever he entered the hangar bays was as amazing as the first time he'd laid eyes on it. All of their mobile suits (sans the White Frame) were lined up on one side of the room, standing tall and seemed to intimidatingly look down on them. Their 'cages' held them in place, lined with stairs and railings for ease of access for the Caprificus recruits and the repair personnel. Well it was either the stairs or one of the lifts, a gigantic metal arm with a platform that acted like a no-walled elevator so that the recruits could quickly enter their units whenever they simulated an emergency boarding procedure. At the very end of the hangar bays was the view of the night sky. The hangar also acted as a hidden port on one side of Onogoro Island if Orb forces needed something delivered covertly, namely something like the mobile suits. He walked a ways forward and found a lift that took him up to the mobile suit with an open cockpit. Unit 06, yep this was Mayura's. As soon as he got to the open hatch he saw the maroon-haired girl hard at work, squinting her eyes at the screen in all her concentration. She had probably done this since day one, judging by the bags that had shaped around her eyes. He placed one cold can against her face, and she squealed in surprise.

"Hard at work?" he asked mischievously. "Here," he offered the can he'd placed on her cheek.

Mayura gave him a wry smile. "Thanks."

He squeezed himself inside the cockpit and sat down on one of the arm rests. Well, you couldn't really call it an arm rest as it still had some control doohickeys on it, but it was the side with the least amount of buttons. If he wasn't careful he might fire the Igelstellungs. Mayura started typing against after she had taken a sip from her drink, and Ziek saw the amount of modifications that she had done for the day.

"Resetting the zero moment point and CPG, changing the meta-motor cortex parameters, and you're even trying to rebuild the neural linkage network? I don't think we're even supposed to go that far."

Mayura turned to Ziek and gave him a playful smile. "You can't honestly think we're going to be able to get them to kick ass if we don't break some rules do you?"

On that he had to agree. His father always told him before how he had to adjust the little things with his Moebius Zero unit so that it would perform better, even if it meant cracking a few firewalls and taking down some limiters and protective loopholes. Ziek felt sleep tug at him as he stared blankly into the darkness of the hangar.

"Mind if you scooch a bit?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. Mayura obliged and they fit themselves snugly into one seat, and he laid his head back on the headrest.

"You're such a baby, needing to sleep this early," she laughed. Ziek grunted a semi-coherent 'Gimme five minutes'. Five minutes seemed like a few seconds ago when Mayura shook him awake and told him that she was turning in for the night. Instead of the dorms for the last week they had their own rooms inside the facility so they wouldn't have to walk all that way back at night. Ziek voiced his disbelief that it was already five minutes but still followed her like a lost dog outside the cockpit, holding onto a flap of her jacket as he slowly regained his senses. The cockpit of Alter 02 closed with a hiss and they took the lift down. As they were about to round the corner Ziek's senses went on overdrive. He grabbed hold of Mayura's arm, bringing her to a spot behind a few lifts and repair equipment. Mayura was about to protest before Ziek gave her a signal to keep quiet. Mayura keened her ears towards the hangar doors leading to the hallway back to the facility and heard the sounds as well. She nodded in agreement and waited. A few moments more and the hangar doors hissed open. They could barely make out two figures walk through the hallway doors. The figures made their way past all of the mobile suits and were headed toward the secret dock. Ziek turned to Mayura and spoke in a hushed voice.

"Intruders?"

"I dunno, definitely not personnel, it's too late for that," she shrugged. She wasn't too eager to say what came to her mind but she had to mention it. If the two figures were really up to no good, things would turn out badly one way or the other. "We don't have time to tell Ms. Erica, by the time we get back they'll probably be gone," Mayura weighed the option first if it was worth even offering, but she came out with it anyway. "We've got to follow them."

Ziek thought for a moment, before agreeing with her point that the two assailants wouldn't wait around to get caught. He whispered an okay before signaling for Mayura to get some sort of weapon just in case. Ziek found a sizable enough wrench, and Mayura found a hammer. From the way they were moving it looked like they knew exactly what they wanted and they knew how to get to it. The moment they exited the hangar doors and wound up on the hidden dock Ziek and Mayura felt a little lost. They'd never gone that far before, mostly because it was a restricted area. They carefully navigated the yellow tape that blocked their path and followed their targets down the side of a cliff that led down to the water. The manmade path had metal railings and stairs wound through the cliff-face and descended into another alcove below. They took care to watch their step, as the path, though ample, was slippery from the water probably splashing over the barriers during high tide. The alcove they had entered into was a vast area, as large of the hangar above if not larger. In one row there were what looked like cargo vessels. Some of the vessels held ammo crates and spare parts, while one vessel seemed to be empty on deck, but looked large enough to hide something in its cargo hold. Their targets were heading toward that particular ship, and they followed, even more cautious than before. Were these two about to hijack an Orb vessel? Who were they working for? The ship was gigantic and looked like an aircraft carrier.

Ziek and Mayura boarded the vessel, just a few meters behind their targets. If they were going to have a chance at thwarting their little plan it was soon, because if this ship sailed there would be no turning back. Ziek signaled Mayura to follow him behind the sets of crates laid not too far from where they'd boarded. In the darkness he saw that the deck of the ship was an extremely wide area, which made it resemble an aircraft carrier even more, so they would have to make use of the cargo for cover. They would try and get the intruders by surprise as they passed the crates to get to the bridge. They hurried to the crates as quietly as they could. As their targets came into view, Ziek noticed something amiss. Only one of them was headed their way. He felt a sudden surge in his senses, like a warning signal going off. He spun around and raised his arm to block a strike. The arm that tried crashing down on him felt like it was made of steel. He dropped the wrench he was holding, trying to prevent himself from shouting in pain. He was pretty sure that was going to bruise. He scrambled to his feet, and not too far from him he saw the crumpled form of Mayura. In the dim light he wasn't sure if she was breathing, but he knew he had to get both of them out of there. He burst forward, cradling Mayura's body with his arms. To his relief he felt her chest inhale and exhale in quick intervals. He sensed something about to hit him, but he couldn't move fast enough without leaving Mayura behind. He braced for the blow, and he felt the force of a knife-hand strike him on the back of his neck. The darkness around him grew even more, and his consciousness faded.

The man had a tanned complexion, was tall and well-built, with his black hair tied in a neat ponytail. He checked his forearm where the boy had blocked him the first time. Those were some reflexes, he thought. Ledonir Kisaka turned to his companion and motioned to the two he'd just knocked out, albeit accidentally. Too late did he realize who had followed them onto the ship.

"I apologize. They probably thought we were intruders. Not far off, all things considered."

His companion checked on the status of the two who were knocked out, crouching down near Mayura first. She was breathing normally at least, but she didn't respond to anything that was done to her, and upon checking, Ziek as well it seemed. They weren't going to wake up any time soon. "We need to take them along."

"That may not be wise," Kisaka replied. His charge didn't move from her spot. She flicked Ziek's head a few times. Whether she was trying to wake him up or it was for her own personal amusement, Kisaka couldn't say. Most probably the latter. She proceeded to pinch Ziek's cheek a few times. Definitely the latter.

She got up and turned her attention to Kisaka. "Mayura's a learning engineer and Ziek is probably the only one who can get that thing to move properly. If we're going to help Sahib and the others we need to make sure we don't just bring them a giant scrap of metal."

Kisaka knew she had a point. She was probably planning to try and pilot the mobile suit herself when they'd arrived there, but she didn't have as much experience as the Caprificus recruits, even if the latter had only begun to train with the units starting the week before. He'd heard that they were making quick progress though, so he had some confidence in Ziek's ability. It would have been better if they'd gotten the boy Ricard Andras to agree, but he was no more than an acquaintance. Even though it was by chance, having someone close to the young 'princess' to give her some support would surely boost her morale. That is, if the boy didn't mind being 'kidnapped'. The girl too of course.

"As you wish Lady Cagalli."

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

Ziek had woken up (rather, regained consciousness) early on the 6th of February, the morning right after he and Mayura tailed who they thought were intruders the night before. He remembered glimpses of the night before. Then the next thing he knew, he was on a cargo vessel heading across the ocean with her eminence Cagalli Yula Athha claiming that she was going to help the town of Tassil and other towns within the northern region of North Africa from the clutches of ZAFT. To do that, she needed the power of a mobile suit. Lo and behold, she'd acquired the ship that was secretly housing the White Frame, with a skeleton crew that was directly under the orders of Kisaka to help them escort the White Frame to the Desert Dawn in Africa. Cagalli said that stealing one of the other suits was nigh impossible due to them being used for the Caprificus project, so they had to steal the unit that was being kept in storage. Kisaka had already asked his network of informants, and they vowed to keep the disappearance of the White Frame under wraps for as long as they could. In any case, the projected final phase of the Caprificus project was months away. While Ziek had some apprehensions and doubts on whatever 'plan' Cagalli had, he had no choice in the matter. It was either go along with Cagalli's plan to the end, or swim all the way back to Orb. He was ecstatic about being able to finally work with the White Frame though. This was his machine, he thought to himself. He just felt it in his gut.

After Cagalli spent most of the morning getting him up to speed, Ziek agreed to work on the OS and make any adjustments he needed to it. The White Frame was covered in an insulating sheet that left the cockpit and various other parts uncovered for ease of access. Mayura stood outside, looking at and analyzing the White Frame. It looked like all the other units despite its white coloration. Its fixed armaments included the head-mounted CIWS guns, beam sabers mounted on its hips since it lacked the fixed flight pack of the M1 Astray. Unique to the White Frame was that on its right forearm was a relatively small but potent hydraulic weapon called a pilebunker. During their briefings it was said to be able to even pierce through Phase Shift Armor, the armor that the Earth Alliance mobile suits had which was said to be able to withstand physical and explosive damage extremely well. It used the hydraulics to propel a stake that had an explosive tip into the enemy mobile suit. At point blank, the physical damage from both the explosion and the stake itself would be able to break through, theoretically, even Phase Shift Armor. The pilebunker was more of a situational last-ditch weapon, as its range was limited and it would have been extremely risky to try and enter close combat with the Earth Alliance machines, not to mention it only had two rounds in its chamber. Only the White Frame had it as despite being the only unit not included in the training exercises, it was the first unit to be created among the Alter Frames. The experimental pilebunker was abandoned in later mobile suits due to its impracticality and how it affected the overall center of gravity of the mobile suit. Also, if Ziek were ever to use that weapon at all, they had limited reserves in ammo supply, as the cargo ship left quickly and didn't take too much from Morgenroete's supplies. Other than that particular weapon, its specs and its output was the same as the other Alter Frames.

Mayura eventually sat on top of the cockpit hatch. She waited just in case Ziek would have some trouble with the OS. To her surprise he didn't call on her much. Mica's 'unbreakable fortress of code' was blown out of proportion. Other than her probable ability to be able to program the thing five times and back before they finished a root setting, the codes were all very familiar to the two of them. Well, that and Mica would probably be able to pilot it after a few minutes of tinkering with the controls. But Ziek and the others were getting better and better at piloting. For the past week they've already learned basic control movements, and basic weapon use, mainly the beam rifle and beam saber.

"Hey Mayura," Ziek called out while tapping away at the keyboard. "Could you help me program some settings for desert warfare? The hydraulics and pressure-sensitivity settings would be a lot different when this thing takes a step on sand."

Mayura hopped up and peeked inside the cockpit. "Didn't we take that up a few days ago? Or were you not listening again?" she grinned.

"Well obviously I didn't know we were going to get knocked out and recruited for a rebellion that takes place in the desert."

"Still means you were too busy daydreaming instead of listening to the lecture, flyboy."

Ziek reached up with his right arm and started pinching her cheek. "Just help me please."

"Jeeph, aflright falredy".

There was no way to fine tune the settings for desert combat until they actually set foot there, but they could at least edit approximations from the stock variables. With a flick of a switch, the OS would switch the sensitivity and hydraulic-balance settings for the mobile suit from urban-land combat to desert combat. With another flick, he could set it back to urban combat again. There were hundreds of variables that would affect optimal settings for each and every combat encounter, so they tried to go for a balance in movement that didn't need to be adjusted on the fly. While they were at it, they also created basic settings that would allow easier aquatic combat, more fine-tuned urban-city combat, and also combat that would take place on softer ground like forests. These were all virtual-based data, so tuning it by way of experience would come later. It was no walk in the park either. It ate up most of their time. They ate a light lunch and went straight back to finish up on the desert settings before moving on to the others. By the time they were almost done with the forest settings, it was getting late in the afternoon. Mayura stood up outside the cockpit and stretched her arms. She looked back at Ziek who was just finishing up. "We better do a basic mobility check before we make landfall. Just in case."

The size of the front deck where the White Frame and its various experimental weapons was tethered down to would have been enough for him to get up and get some motion tests done. Hell, it was probably large enough for two mobile suits to get into a scuffle. The ship was reinforced with stabilizers that would be able to offset any shift in weight set upon it by outside forces to a certain extent, so walking around should be no problem. They needed to loosen and pry the wires off before they could get the insulating sheet off though. Ziek helped Mayura remove some locks for the cords. He planned to just grab the sheet with the White Frame once he got the mobile suit running. As Ziek got back in the cockpit the com-link inside flickered on. Cagalli's face appeared on his monitor.

"Ziek, don't do anything for now, radars are picking up activity," she said. She sounded anxious.

"But I thought you told me we were going through a route ZAFT didn't patrol?"

"It might just be nothing, but be on the lookout."

Ziek complied for the moment. It would be the end of them if a ZAFT fleet saw a mobile suit. What's more, the Astray looked highly identical to the Alliance G-Weapons. They might attack on sight if given the chance. He had Mayura stay on lookout near the White Frame just in case. For now, he sat there in silence.

The sun had set and night enveloped the horizon before Ziek thought that the blip on the radar was nothing more than a fluke. He'd even began to fall asleep, the fatigue from the work they did that afternoon catching up to him. Unfortunately the White Frame's radar systems detected something. The audio sensors also managed to pick up some noise. It was the distinct noise of thrusters, and it was getting closer and closer. He got out of the White Frame's cockpit and stood on top of the hatch. On the moonlit horizon, he saw a figure getting closer and closer.

"Mayura get to the bridge."

"What?"

"Get to the bridge now," Ziek looked at her seriously. "Just go!"

With an uneasy nod Mayura obliged and bolted for the bridge where Kisaka and Cagalli were at the moment. He got back into the cockpit of the White Frame and closed the hatch, activating the unit. "Cagalli, is it a DINN?" He asked as he flipped some switches, trying to keep the White Frame's temperatures as cool as possible. DINN's were part of ZAFT's mainstay units for their Earth forces. Despite being lightly armored it still had some firepower, along with its mobility. Cagalli appeared on his screen.

"Yeah," she replied quickly, appearing on his screen a moment later. She looked nervous. "We weren't supposed to run into anyone on this route, why is that DINN here…"

"It could be a scout, if so," Kisaka interjected. "Just let me do the talking for now. But stay on standby, Ziek."

"You really think he didn't just see me getting into the cockpit of a something?"

Kisaka sighed. Ziek could see the uneasiness in his eyes. "For all our sakes, let's hope not."

Ziek waited patiently. He twiddled his fingers as he heard the pilot of the DINN contact the bridge. He asked the routine 'state your business, what faction are you from', all that procedural crap. He insisted that he inspect the contents of the cargo that they were carrying. All part of process he claimed. When Kisaka insisted against it the DINN pilot just threatened to sink the ship under accusations of harboring negative sentiment towards ZAFT policy. They were in ZAFT controlled territory after all. Kisaka finally gave in. The DINN landed on the main deck, near the covered White Frame. Ziek felt the vibrations from inside his cockpit. The distinct sound of a mobile suit walking filled his senses. He gripped the controls hard. His heart beat like a drum.

"Ziek, when I give the signal, you have to take him out," Kisaka radioed over his com-link. Ziek's eyes widened.

"What, like kill him?" he asked as if the request was ludicrous.

"It's either him, or he radios his dispatch ship and brings in more firepower to bring us in, or worse, sink us entirely."

Ziek gripped the controls hard once again. "Roger."

The training for the past week would be tested here. Maybe it was too soon. Ziek's mind raced with thoughts and doubts. That was a soldier right in front of him, ready to pull the trigger at any moment should the need arise. Ziek himself was nothing more than a test pilot at this point, but he was training to become part of Orb's own Caprificus Corps. They were the first of the Corps and were to be leaders on the battlefield. But right now he had a week's training going for him, against the experience of a soldier. Not just an ordinary soldier, but a Coordinator. They had better reflexes, better skills, better everything. Now he was supposed to kill one of them with a machine he's only piloted in a controlled environment for a week? Was he even ready to take a life?

"It's either you die, or they die, simple as that," Ziek whispered to himself. He needed the element of surprise on his side if he wanted a shot at the cockpit. He breathed in deeply. Treat it like a simulation, just treat it like a simulation, he kept repeating in his head. The DINN drew closer with each moment, stopping here and there to get a reading on a few crates and covered rations lying around. He felt his heart speed up as it neared the foot of the White Frame. The DINN's mono-eye began to flicker in the direction of the White Frame. The DINN had finally picked up its heat signature. Kisaka gave him the signal.

Ziek let his instincts take over. He'd never tried this in simulation before. He was pretty sure it wasn't a natural occurrence anyway, launching from a grounded position. The mobile suit heaved itself off the ground with its thrusters as its mechanical arms propelled itself from the ship's deck. In a quick motion, Ziek set the boosters into high gear as his mobile suit became upright, like a predator rushing towards its prey. The White Frame bounded forward with its right arm reared back. The large insulating cloth that covered the White Frame was thrown onto the DINN, blocking out its main camera. The DINN started to fire its machine gun sporadically. The pilot was caught unaware by whatever had stuck itself onto the mobile suit's head and began to attempt ascending. Ziek shouted carnally as the White Frame's right arm extended itself, aiming for the DINN's cockpit. The pilebunker connected, and a loud, sickening, metallic crack filled the otherwise silent night air. It had torn right through the torso armor as the hydraulic piston pushed the stake deep into the DINN's torso, before the tip detonated, tearing the DINN's body apart as the explosion ensued, leaving a massive wreck in its wake. The insulating cloth, not completely vaporized by the explosion, floated back onto the deck of the ship. The White Frame had managed to propel itself backwards away from the explosion safely. Ziek could do nothing but look at the debris that was left. He'd just taken a human life. The ship rocked back and forth from the shock and eventually settled. The glow of his mobile suit's eyes pierced through the dark night, ominously lighting up the White Frame's face. The silence lasted for a moment, before Ziek heard a voice that brought him back.

"Ziek?" he heard her ask.

"I'm okay Cagalli," he said. He realized he was gripping the controls very tightly. His body shook like he had tremors, before he finally managed to calm down. "I'm okay." He at the debris left behind one more time, the DINN's mono-eye had wound up a few feet away from him, flickering like it was trying to hang on to whatever life it had left, before going dark. Ziek opened communications again. "We have to get out of here. We're not going to survive the main force."

_**Author's Notes: With the PASWG update also comes a Gundam SeeD update. Yay~. I really don't want to scrap this. I've had the story in my head for so long that it pains me to not be able to express it properly. So I hope one day I'll be able to finish this thing. The Gundam SeeD Remastered HD episodes also help :P Until next time guys.**_


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